A Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a typical example of the cellular communication systems, is a system proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), in charge of standardization of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) system. A LTE system can implement packet-based communication at a high transfer rate of a maximum of 100 Mbps. Many studies for commercialization thereof are now underway.
A WLAN is a small-scale wireless network, and a WLAN system has been widely used for its many advantages such as low network access costs and negligible maintenance, despite the non-supportability of mobility.
In the WLAN system, an Access Point (AP) is required to provide wireless services. The AP wirelessly communicates with TEs, and takes charge not only of signal exchange between the TEs but also of connections with an external network within its coverage. The AP may be made as a separate fixed device or as a module mountable in a computer system or an ME. In the latter case, the ME serves as an AP.
FIG. 1 shows a system for enabling a TE to access an external network using an ME.
Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of TEs 102, 104 and 106 may access the external network over a cellular system by accessing an ME 110 serving as an AP.
In the system of FIG. 1, if a user of the ME 110 (i.e., a WLAN AP) connected to the external network unlocks its access password, any TEs 102, 104 and 106 can access the external network by accessing the ME 110. In this case, information security of the network may not be ensured, and the available network capacity and the network speed may be reduced due to the unintentional sharing of the limited resources in the small-scale WLAN environment.
In the typical WLAN AP, data from a plurality of TEs requiring various applications (e.g., e-mail, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), NetMeeting, and the like) shares a single channel, making it hard to ensure traffic Quality of Service (QoS) of the TEs requiring various types of services.